After plenty of conflicting signals, it appears that the Portland Trail Blazers are prepared to participate in a Portland City Council meeting on Thursday morning, a work session to find steps forward in funding renovations to the Moda Center arena. Earlier in the week it looked like the team might not send representatives to the session, but Allissa Gary and Bill Oram of the Oregonian indicate that the Blazers have committed to attend [subscription required].
The same article also highlights the team’s concern with the potential threat of a lawsuit by the city of Portland, a major stumbling block in the proceedings. The existing lease between team and city, which expires in 2030, contains a clause that Rip City Management is obligated to maintain the Moda Center in a “first-class manner”. Rip City Management is a subsidiary of the Trail Blazers.
This clause could potentially put the Blazers in a bit of a bind in terms of public opinion, also from a legal perspective should the team desire to move. On the one hand, the Blazers have been vociferously arguing that Moda Center requires massive renovation to remain competitive in the NBA landscape. On the other, there could be an argument that under the lease Rip City Management should be (and should have been) responsible for keeping the arena “first-class”.
The Blazers want to remove any leverage that this clause might give the city. The Oregonian quotes Charles Boyle, spokesperson for the Blazers, as follows.
“We need the city to take the prospect of litigation off the table by affirming the work the team has done to maintain Moda Center in a first-class condition. Removing that threat is a critical first step to unlock a freer flow of information about the building and the renovation.”
The clause reportedly doesn’t allow the city to sue over the first-class provision while the team is under lease, but it would open the possibility of a lawsuit should the team leave. There is confusion on this point, and the Blazers appear to be using that confusion to attempt to take away a legal angle that the city could use if the team moves. If the team were to relocate, The Oregonian quotes city councilor Steve Novick as saying, “we’d be crazy to give up the right to bring a lawsuit under that provision if that happens”.
